How To: Surprise your kids with a Walt Disney World Resort vacation!

Growing up inn the suburbs of Washington, D.C., Aleisha has never let distance stop her from enjoying Walt Disney World vacations. From an early age, whether it be on a family vacation or tagging along with a friend on her vacation, she fell in love with the magic and the joy that Disney brought. Now making her own memories as a DVC member with a Star Wars obsessed little boy, she tries to capture the same magical feelings into every day life. She has quickly established a reputation with friends, relatives and coworkers as a real-life Belle. Always with a book in her hand and available to help others plan their magical Disney vacations. Beyond Disney, Aleisha is a lover of all genres of music; craves a good concert from time to time, considers her food allergies a blessing rather than a curse and can be seen at the good old hockey game during the NHL season.

How do you surprise your kids with a Walt Disney World Resort vacation?

Are you one of these planners that go all out to pull off something grand? Pinterest and Facebook have thousands of ideas on surprising your kids for their first trip to Walt Disney World ranging from the super easy to over the top. And believe me, who doesn’t want to pull off an epic surprise on their first trip? Or are you more of the quiet surprise planner? Maybe you plan everything out all on your own quietly, feeling as though you don’t need to go overboard to pull of something magical.

Either way, I have some fabulous ideas that will get both you and your kids excited for what’s ahead, even if they aren’t in the know quite yet!

The Go Big or Go home surprises!

Scavenger Hunts: This is fantastic for both older kids who can read those clues-why not try a poem or a catchy phrase to make it a little harder? For the younger kids, pictures would definitely work. After each clue, they can earn a puzzle piece, an item that they will need while on vacation until all clues have been found. Once they are done, have them build the puzzle that announces they are going.

The balloon room: I saw this on Facebook the other day and loved it! I will say this does require some time, and a lot of balloons! The idea is to write the words “You are going to Walt Disney World!” on certain balloons before blowing them up. Once you do, throw them in the mix with enough balloons to fill your living room. This would be perfect for a get them up and go sort of plan. Have them swift through the balloons until they find out what it says. I will say you can have them pop the balloons that don’t have anything on them, but if you are not a fan of balloon popping I don’t recommend it, so keep that in mind.

The pizza box idea: No it doesn’t have to be a pizza box. But the idea of this is to shock them. Maybe it is having them go open a closet to find his bags are packed. Another thought is to get neighbors involved. Have one of them ring the doorbell, and have your kids answer it. The neighbor will hand them a gift box, maybe it’s the MagicBands. Or simply a map of the parks. Or a box of balloons that fly out the moment they open it. Another idea is to watch a “Disney” movie as a family. But it is not a movie that they thought, but rather a home video that you put together that explains what is going on. The point is to really truly surprise them when they least expect it.

The quiet and unassuming surprises!

I’ll wear my announcement: If your plans entail getting up super early, get them up and help them get dressed. Etsy has some incredible “I’m going to Disney” shirts for everyone! If they can read put it on backwards and see how long it takes them to notice before turning it around. If they can’t, well you have a higher chance of pulling this surprise off a lot longer!

Mickey inspired meal: You could do this two ways. Either make them a meal in Mickey shapes–think cookies, pancakes, etc–or if you are a frequent Walt Disney World Resort visitor, make or attempt to recreate their favorite meal. Sit around and talk about their favorite meals. At the end throw in, “You know this would be so much better at Magic Kingdom (or resort, or other park, etc.) how about we go?” Tada!

The let’s get up and go: Sometimes the best plan is just to get up, and go. How far can you get before they realize they aren’t going to school, or to grandmas? Will they even realize bags are in the car packed? See who can guess first, or who can go the longest without realizing it!

Of course there are so many more ideas out there, and there is no real right or wrong way to surprise your kids. For more fun ideas, I recommend hitting up Pinterest, which always seems to have thousands of ideas for you!

I admit I am looking at the best option myself, as my husband and I decided we are going to surprise my son on his 8th birthday this February with a trip to his favorite place on Earth. It may not be as easy as we think, considering he has been there more times than he can count. But we vow to try to find a way to surprise him!

What will we choose? How will it go? I guess you will have to wait until February to find out!

Aleisha M. (NDM#150)

Growing up inn the suburbs of Washington, D.C., Aleisha has never let distance stop her from enjoying Walt Disney World vacations. From an early age, whether it be on a family vacation or tagging along with a friend on her vacation, she fell in love with the magic and the joy that Disney brought. Now making her own memories as a DVC member with a Star Wars obsessed little boy, she tries to capture the same magical feelings into every day life. She has quickly established a reputation with friends, relatives and coworkers as a real-life Belle. Always with a book in her hand and available to help others plan their magical Disney vacations. Beyond Disney, Aleisha is a lover of all genres of music; craves a good concert from time to time, considers her food allergies a blessing rather than a curse and can be seen at the good old hockey game during the NHL season.